From The Host's Chair: 2016 Free Agent List

Callan McClurg
Feb 2, 2016
7 min read

STUDIO 171: The unofficial start of the 20th season of the longest running professional Women's sports league comes with uncertainty for fans of all twelve teams as the await to hear deals being made for the better of their franchise, which may come at the expense of familiar faces they've rooted for potentially going elsewhere to fit into another team's puzzle.

I'll briefly go through each team and dissect their potential 2016 roster framework, the framework that could lead them to the 2016 WNBA Championship.

ATL: The Atlanta Dream were dethroned as the Queens of the East after back to back years of early playoff exits after reaching the WNBA Finals in 2010-2011 and 2013, all ending in losses to Seattle and Minnesota twice. Atlanta took a step back in 2014 when they were knocked out by the eventual conference champion Chicago Sky.

2015 was a down for the Dream as they sank like a stone from number one to number five in the Eastern Conference, highlighted by the firing of General Manager Angela Taylor and a midseason trade that sent Erika de Souza to Chicago.

With Angel McCoughtry still onboard for the season, and the number four pick in the draft, Atlanta will begin their rebuild by looking for young talent to fill holes in the roster.

CHI: The Chicago Sky were the cinderella team in 2014 when as the number four seed knocked out both heavy favorites Atlanta and Indiana before succumbing to the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals. Elena Delle Donne had a 2015 season to remember, including a 45 point game in an Overtime win over Atlanta that led her to being named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Despite an early exit in a hard fought three game opening round series with Indiana, the Sky could continue to be a wild card team in the East. With Delle Donne along with Cappie Pondexter, Courtney Vandersloot and reigning Sixth Woman of the year Allie Quigley, Chicago can and will make things happen in the East. The only question mark is the post position, with de Souza gone due to the Olympics and teams clamping down on EDD expect Chicago to target a post in the draft.

CON: A year ravished by injuries and roster depth led to the Connecticut Sun dismissing head coach Anne Donovan during the 2015 offseason. The Sun were without Chiney Ogwumike for the season due to micro-fracture knee season while playing overseas. Connecticut started the season off on a 7-1 start until the injury bug bit its teeth into the roster and players fell like flies with injuries which in the end landed Connecticut into the Draft Lottery.

With Ogwumike coming back and a roster loaded with young talent that also includes Kelsey Bone and Alex Bentley and Curt Miller as the team's new head coach, a top four pick will continue to make this team even younger...and scarier in the next couple of years.

IND: There was a lot of doubt and not much faith in the 2015 season for the Indiana Fever who were embarking on a new journey with Stephanie White taking over for legendary coach Lin Dunn as the team's head coach. Fever Star Tamika Catchings missed significant time early in the year due to a back problem, but came back to led her team to the 2015 WNBA Finals, where Indiana faltered to Minnesota.

With Catchings retiring following the 2016 season, and team spearheaded by Catchings, Briann January, Layshia Clarendon and Natalie Achonwa, Indiana will be in good hands following TC's retirement.

LA: Even the great ones have their bad days and seasons. That could almost certainly sum up the 2015 Los Angeles Sparks season. With new head coach Brian Agler now in charge of captaining the ship, Agler hit a lot of high tides and rough surf during his first season. Candace Parker elected to sit out the first half of the season to give herself a break from year around play, which drew the ire of the entire fanbase complaining and demanding Parker be traded for being "unloyal" to the team.

During Parker's absence, Los Angeles would start 0-7, the worst start in the franchise's now twenty year history. In spite of the start, Nneka Oguwmike and Jantel Lavender were the glue that held the Sparks together during that stretch of the season.

Following Parker's return, Los Angeles rose from the dead and a late season surge saw them sneak in the backdoor and into the postseason for a league best 14th time, only to be toppled in three games by Minnesota.

With Parker, Ogumike and Lavender together for a full-season and a number five draft pick, Penny Toler has a chance to get LA back on track by bringing in the next big LA star.

MIN: They don't get even, they get odd. That's the winning equation for the Minnesota Lynx who captured their third WNBA Championship in 2015. That also means they have won their three titles in Odd Numbered Years (2011, 2013, 2015), and if history does repeat itself, 2017 would see another parade in Minneapolis.

With what seems to be an unstoppable force of Maya Moore, Semione Augustus and Lindsay Whalen along with young depth on the roster, don't be surprised if we see the first team to repeat as WNBA Champions since 2001-2002.

NYL: If the famous phrase of "How'd you get fired on your off day?" has any meaning to me, it would be the fact that the New York Liberty blew out head coach Bill Lambieer over the offseason...ONLY to re-hire him just a week later as the team's head coach.

That move then led to a huge transition for New York and a rebuilt that soared from 5th to a league wide number one team with a 23-11 record. Lambieer worked his draft day magic by trading for the rights to Brittany Boyd from San Antonio and drafting UCONN standout Kiah Stokes.

Boyd and Stokes, combined with Tina Charles and Epiphany Prince and a cast of relentless other from Swin Cash, Carolyn Swords and the unsung heroes of Candice Wiggins and Sugar Rodgers propelled the Liberty to the number seed in the East, best overall record in the league and Lambieer named Coach of the year.

Despite exiting in the Conference Finals, New York is back from the ashes and back on the WNBA Map.

PHX: One thing is for certain, you become the hunted when you're ontop. The Phoenix Mercury were a rebuilt team in 2015, playing without Diana Taurasi and Penny Toler who missed the season for rest. That along with some off the court problems and losing Erin Phillips via Free Agency, the Mercury were not the same team as they were in 2014, but still locked up the second seed in the West, only to lose to Minnesota in the Conference Finals.

With Taurasi and Taylor set to return, and more experienced Brittney Griner in her fourth season and Dewanna Bonner, look for Phoenix to be back in the mix in 2016.

SAS: San Antonio went nova in 2015. A year removed the playoffs, the San Antonio Stars plummeted to the bottom of the Western Conference. Losing Becky Hammon to retirement and a coaching position with the Spurs, the Stars struggled throughout the season. If there were any bright spots for San Antonio, then it was the play of Danielle Robinson and Kayla McBride who did their best to keep San Antonio upright during the season.

The Stars, holding the second pick in the draft will be in line for their next big superSTAR to go along with Robinson and McBride.

SEA: Change was in the forecast for the Seattle Storm in 2015. With Brian Agler now in Los Angeles, Jenny Boucek was promoted to the head coaching position. Seattle held both the first and third picks in the 2014 Draft. Seattle cashed in on Jewell Lloyd at number one from Notre Dame, and the sharpshooting Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis from UCONN.

Lloyd, Mosqueda-Lewis paired with an aging Sue Bird clouded the playoff hopes for Seattle for a second straight season as Boucek gave Lloyd and Mosqueda-Lewis limited playing time along with a lack of depth on the roster.

2016 could bring bright and sunny days back to the Emerald City as the Storm are positioned to draft UCONN superstar Breanna Stewart with the first overall pick in the 2016 Draft. With Bird playing the role of mentor for Lloyd, KML and potentially Stewart, this young team could clear up the forecast in Seattle.

TUL/DAL: Following the relocation from Detroit, the batteries finally went out in Tulsa for the Tulsa Shock. The 2015 season was blurred early in the offseason by the incident involving Shock Forward Glory Johnson and Mercury Center Brittney Griner.

However, the Shock came fully charged out of the gates at a staggering 7-1 start, only to struggle for the remainder of the season due to the unfortunate ACL injury to team star Skylar Diggins. Tulsa battled through the adversity to reach the postseason for the first time in Tulsa history, only to be swept by Phoenix.

Now, the franchise has a fresh start, as the franchise has relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has rebranded itself as the Dallas Wings.

With Fred Williams retained as Head Coach and Diggins coming back from the ACL injury, Dallas will look to spread its Wings and fly into the postseason sea.

WAS: Consistency has been a constant factor that has worked with the Washington Mystics. Head Coach Mike Thibault has proved that consistency is contagious. Washington qualified for the postseason, only to fall in three to New York.

The Mystics have always been a consistent winner in the regular season, but the unanswered question of "Can you do it when it counts the most?" remains an empty shaded bubble on the test. Ivory Latta has been the Mystics' most consistent starter in regard to Games Played. Stefanie Dolson and Emma Messamen are young posts getting healthy minutes of play. Bria Hartley dealt with an injured knee for most of the season and should be back at full strength for the season. Kara Lawson continues to be the veteran presence for the young players on the team.